2018's legal cases with significant national influence revealed

Ten significant cases that had national influence in 2018 were unveiled by China's top court on Thursday after being selected from 20 proposed options.

The 10 cases covered various aspects of the nation's development and people's livelihoods, and also showed the improvement of rule of law, according to a statement by the Supreme People's Court.

For example, a lawsuit between Christian Dior, a popular perfume from the French fashion house, and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, was listed as one of the 10 major cases, it said.

The company brought the authority to the top court after it failed in registering its water droplet-shaped bottle for the scent J'adore as a trademark in the country. In April last year, the top court revoked the original rulings made by lower-level courts, announcing its bottle design could be a protected trademark.

The case not only reflected the country's equal protection on intellectual property rights, but also could be a guidebook for courts at lower levels when they face similar situations in future case hearings, Cui Guobin, an IP associate professor at Tsinghua University, said after hearing the final verdict last year.

Another case that aroused public attention and speeded up the building of rule of law last year involved Zhang Wenzhong, former chairman of retail company Wumei Holdings.

Zhang was acquitted after being accused of fraud, bribery and embezzlement in May due to insufficient evidence and wrongful application of laws. That the case was overturned showed the top court's efforts to rectify wrongful cases relating to property rights and reflected its determination to protect the legitimate rights of entrepreneurs.

The other eight cases were related to corruption, environmental protection and mafia-style crimes, the statement said.

The selection was jointly held by the top court and China Central Television. After the organizers revealed the 20 candidates on their websites, they received more than 40 million online votes from netizens and sought academic analysis from law professionals, it added.